In India, 1992
These pictures were taken during November 1992 on a journey through Southern India. "Town (Kodaikanal)" has been exhibited and collected internationally, while most of the others have never been published or displayed before. I felt then that the great physical distance to the motif in “Kodaikanal” seemed necessary to mirror and convey the cultural distance I was faced with throughout the journey. From afar, the forms and structures of human endeavour become convincingly and reassuringly equal and possibly my happiness with the achievement of “Kodaikanal” caused my reluctance to show the complete body of work.
But a generation has passed. My hope is that today, devoid of any possible topicality, they might easier reveal the intentions I had when making them 23 years ago: a search for an understanding of my own place in the world and an enquiry into universal human rather than place-specific conditions.
My lasting impression of India is that of a country where nothing is hidden, where all states of being, all emotions can be found in the open. I saw joy and sorrow, abundance and destitution, health and disease. Never before and never again have I had such a strong experience of life’s fullness, completeness and beauty. There is great comfort and hope to be found when first realising life’s demand to accept it in its entirety. For me, this happened in India and I have felt homesick for the country and its wonders ever since.
Gerhard Stromberg, November 2015
Notes
All pictures were photographed on colour-negative film, 8x10 inches in size. The resulting negatives were scanned and printed with pigment inks on cotton rag paper of archival quality.
Where an edition is given, the picture has not been sold in any other edition before.
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© 2018, Gerhard Stromberg, mail@gerhardstromberg.com